As part of the Mario franchise, the series has the usual cast of characters like Mario, Luigi, Peach, Daisy, Bowser, Donkey Kong ("DK") and Wario as playable captains, whereas other characters such as Birdo and Toad can be recruited as "sidekicks".

Super Mario Strikers (Mario Smash Football in Europe) brings staple Mario-themed items of varying danger, potency, and size to the playing field, with additional captain-specific items ranging from Mario and Luigi's gargantuan growth, to Peach's camera flash freeze, to DK's Ground-Shattering Landing, aptly represented by the disembodied head of your captain. Body-checking enemies into the electric fence is actively encouraged (though doing so recklessly will award enemies a retaliatory item) and captains may perform high-flying Superstrikes that, when timed right and uninterrupted, can guarantee a goal worth two points instead of one.

Mario Strikers Charged retains nearly all of the features introduced in the prequel, but ups the ante by adding skillshots for sidekicks and the new, all-powerful Megastrike for captains. For example, if Koopa charges the ball for long enough, he can release a metallic koopa shell that dazes Kritter, creating a much easier scoring opportunity. For captains, unlike the previous Superstrike, the Megastrike is a new move that fires off 3-6 balls at the opponent's goalie which, depending on how many balls are saved, can score anything between zero and six goals.

There are four main modes - Road to the Striker Cup (campaign), Domination Mode (versus), Striker Challenges (missions) and Wi-Fi. Road to the Striker Cup consists of three cups: the Fire Cup, Crystal Cup and Striker Cup, with varying difficulty. Teams are first pitted against each other in a group stage, then the best teams are promoted to a knockout stage, and finally the winning team gets a shot at winning the trophy by playing the current champion in a best of 3 matches. Domination Mode, like normal versus modes, is a customized match between any two teams of your choice. Striker Challenges consists of 12 different missions (one for each captain) where you and possibly your opponent will be handicapped in some way, and will have to win the game based on certain criteria. Wi-Fi is simply a match against another human player somewhere across the world, and has a rating system similar to Nintendo's other Wi-Fi modes.

But be warned - this game can be, and will be, Nintendo Hard. The skill of the later AI difficulty levels (4 and 5) is near-perfect, and they will pull off some of the most ridiculous shots possible to win a game however they can. The game thankfully avoids Fake Difficulty, but the skill of the AI sometimes beggars belief.

Mario Strikers contains examples of:

Acrofatic: Wario can do backflips. Or more specifically, Wario can backflip kick a ball in mid-air at insane speed into the back of the net. He can also do the splits.

Action Girl: Peach and Daisy, all the way in this game. They're not that interested in trying to look pretty in this game and are much more interested in kicking ass and playing as brutally as everyone else. The Birdo sidekicks definitely qualify too (depending on your localization), being Power classes with ridiculously strong tackles.

The mega strikes have a brief pose before unleashing hell on the enemy goalie.

Bad Boss: Some of the captains take out their frustration on their teammates if the opposing team scores too much. Examples range from Peach throwing a temper tantrum, Bowser setting his team on fire or Petey Piranha eating an opposing team player alive before spitting the player out of his mouth.

Badass Adorable: Yoshi. He kicks just as much ass as everyone else but when he scores a goal, he'll sometimes playfully chase his own tail while giggling.

Some of your sidekicks also qualify too, especially with their celebrations. Ranging from Hammer Bro's playful slide when he scores to Toad breakdancing.

Badass Princess: Daisy and even Peach are pretty badass when they're out on the field.

Camera Abuse: Donkey Kong and Waluigi do this. Inverted by Peach who abuses her opponents with the cameras.

Character Class System: There are five separate "classes" for each captain and sidekick - Playmaker, Defensive, Balanced, Offensive and Power. For example, Bowser, a power character, is incredibly slow and poor at passing, but is great at tackling and amazing at shooting. Peach, a playmaker character, is the exact opposite. Generally, Playmakers are the foils of Power characters, and obviously Offensive characters are the foils of Defensive characters (poor speed and tackling but great passing and shooting, and vice versa respectively).

The art style compared to other Mario titles. The female captains' clothing. The male characters' constant angry scowls. Headbutting players into an electric fence. Mario Strikers Charged was the first game in the Mario franchise to receive an ESRB E10+ and PEGI 7+ rating, as opposed to the E and 3+ rating that most of the games have. Granted, the series does so in a very tongue-in-cheek manner, as the game takes itself as seriously as any other Mario spinoff (which is to say, not at all).

In-series, Charged for the original game. The latter, while gimmicky, was still a rather straightforward depiction of soccer. Charged, however, took the rules and turned them on their heads so hard it can be pretty ludicrous.

Dude, Where's My Respect?: At the beginning of the campaign in Mario Strikers Charged, the press are very disbelieving that Luigi would actually be able to win something like the Fire Cup. They're a little less condescending in the second cup. Then in the Strikers Cup, they're rooting for him. Just as well.

Game-Breaking Bug: There is a glitch which causes the ball to go through the opponent's goalie if a Boo charges the ball then disappears into his goalie, prompting Boo's goalie to pick the ball up and pass it normally. The other goalie will be unable to block the ball in any capacity. Some online players will opt to score goals solely through this glitch.

Improbable Aiming Skills: Every shot taken is always on-target; the only thing stopping it from going in is Kritter. Also, some of the skillshots introduced in Mario Strikers Charged are guaranteed goals when used correctly.

Incredibly Lame Pun: Waluigi's signature power-up causes him to create a tangled, purple wall behind him as he moves. It's called "Wall-Luigi".

Interface Spoiler: In the first game, at the end of the Bowser Cup play-offs segment, one might notice that the message giving the results says, "[Player] has defeated [Opponent]" instead of, "[Player] has won the Bowser Cup". This quickly clues the player in that there is another opponent before they can take the trophy.

Nintendo Hard: In Mario Strikers Charged, just wait until you reach the striker cup. Then wait until you reach the knockout stage. Then attempt Yoshi's, Bowser Jr.'s or Diddy Kong's challenges. Most of the game is actually pretty easy, but the Difficulty Spike you have to overcome to reach 100% completion is absolutely insane.

Not Cheating Unless You Get Caught: There are no rules about what you can and can't do but if you attack an enemy who doesn't have the ball (launching a skill shot at them doesn't count) their team gets a power up... unless they already have two in which feel free to bash their heads in.

Opposing Sports Team: Any AI opponent you face on high difficulties, but special mention goes to the teams you face in the Striker Cup Knockout (Elimination) rounds and Petey Piranha's team in the final in Charged. They play above the 5 (megastriker) skill level, at an otherwise unseen 6th level of difficulty.

Perfect-Play A.I.: It is truly jaw-dropping to see just how skillful the AI can get, particularly in the final Striker Cup match against Petey.

Promoted to Playable: Bowser between games. In the first one, he just popped into the field randomly.

Shock and Awe: Every stage is surrounded by an electric fence (bar the training room and Thunder Island which doesn't have a fence) and Dry Bones' skill shot electrifies the ball (and whoever it touches). Even the spectators aren't safe from the fence in the opening movie.

Sore Loser: Everyone. The captains each have special animations of them getting very upset, which plays sometimes when they're losing badly in a match. Special mention goes to Petey, who decides to attack one of the opposing team's players out of rage and eat them!

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